We enjoyed this view every time we strolled into the village of Trafoi from the camp site, which is just visible above the church roof.
The hanging glacier is the one which dominates the camp site - shown in yesterday’s image.
The church provided a roost for hundreds of screeching swifts, which gathered each night much as starlings do at this time of year in the UK.
Remember the heatwave of last July? We escaped from the intense heat around Lake Garda, to spend a lovely few days above 1500 metres at the camp site at Trafoi, in the Stelvio National Park.
The glaciers lit by the lovely sunsets, were visibly, and audibly, melting during our stay, which was punctuated by the crash of distant avalanches.
High up in the Stelvio National Park, on 7 July 2010, I’m admiring the view north, towards Austria.
Roll on summer!
We are having a few days away – not a walking trip – so unless some mobile postings are forthcoming, over the next few days viewers will have to make do with a few images from last summer’s holiday in the Alps.
Near Persone – a small village not far from Lake Garda – we found this fine specimen of Devil’s Claw, a shy plant that tries to hide away in high rocky crevices.
The images from that trip remain ‘unsorted’, so it’s a great pleasure to browse through them; please excuse the indulgence.
Oban > Bridge of Orchy > Bridge of Gaur > Dalwhinnie > Ballater > North Water Bridge > a beach near St Cyrus, is the gist of the route, at the end of which I hope a good companion will stand in for the very wobbly walking pole from which the above picture was taken at the end of last year’s effort.
Comments from an (as yet unnamed) esteemed vetter are awaited.
A Strange Tram Experience
I joined Sue and Jenny for a pizza in town tonight, after which they were going to the ballet. I’d just not felt like cooking for myself, but I was dismayed, on leaving the restaurant, to discover that my route home, past Old Trafford, coincided with a rush of supporters intent on watching a Man Utd football match. I squeezed onto a tram at Market Street. It was full of supporters, but calm, chatty, and not at all intimidating. I must have looked a bit frail. For the first time in my life someone stood up and offered their seat. I politely declined and moved towards an empty seat further up the carriage. Someone else stood up and offered their seat. '”It’s ok, thanks”, I found the empty seat. This group of supporters were actually better travel companions than the pushy commuters I used to have to contend with (I was one of them, I don’t deny that). On reaching Old Trafford, nearly everyone got off. Unlike commuters, they paused when they reached my seat to enable me to leave before them – I had to explain that I wasn’t going to the match. All very courteous. Should I be surprised? Perhaps not.
Over on Gayle’s blog are some impressive graphs concerning her activities during 2010.
So I thought I’d work out some statistics for my own 2010 activities.
I walked rather less than Gayle’s 1,813 miles, though at 1,184 miles (1,905km) I nearly managed to replicate her digits. But my miles weren’t all that ‘flat’, as I climbed some 73,360 metres (240,694 ft) and topped a few summits – 9 Munros, 22 Corbetts, 32 Wainwrights and 53 Birketts, as well as 19 other ‘minor’ summits – mainly Shutlingsloe and lesser Alpine peaks. Of the UK summits, 53 were ‘Marilyns’ – ie summits 500 feet (~150 metres) higher than the land around them.
Adding in bike rides (1,317km), jogging (307km) and skiing (250km), my grand totals for 2010 are 3,779km (2,348 miles) and 100,343 metres (329,225 ft) ascent.
But the statistic I like best is the number of days I managed to get out – excluding walks under 5km, bike rides and most of the jogging – it comes to about 150 days, from which I conclude that I’m well and truly retired! Perhaps even a bit tired!
It’s cooling down again here in Timperley. The slight thaw produced a little surface water on the frozen canal, which has re-frozen to form an attractive ‘shattered glass’ effect. It’s now about 3 inches thick, so is fine to walk on, apart for a few thin patches and the fact that it’s incredibly slippery.
Plans for 2011 are on the drawing board, but some of the above statistics will take some beating…
We had some lovely presents this (last) year.
Here’s one of the best, a 250 piece wooden jigsaw featuring a classic view. For a change, it’s not Shutlingsloe!
Thank you, Andrew and Kate, for this lovely present. We’ll dismantle it soon and bring it round to your house for reconstruction.
Similar products are available from here.
It’s not long since I was joined by Richard and Graham for a stroll up Shutlingsloe on the splendidly moonlit evening of 20 December.
It’s only a 5km walk with 270 metres of ascent from Trentabank, but for me the ascent of the Matterhorn of Cheshire always counts as a ‘mountain’ with its wide ranging views into the Peak District, across the Cheshire plain, and over much of Greater Manchester.
We enjoyed that walk, and the subsequent sojourn with beers in front of a roaring fire at the Leather’s Smithy.
But that was last year…
It’s a New Year tradition for Sue and me to go for a walk – a tough one if the weather is suitable. Today dawned dull and dreich, so we didn’t rush off to get drenched in Snowdonia or the Lake District.
That can wait.
Instead, we enjoyed a gentle ascent of Shutlingsloe with some good friends, setting off for a change from the Standing Stone Car Park, which reduces the ascent to just 170 metres.
Andrew and Kate were eager to bag the summit….
…which soon came into view, intermittently through the mist.
It didn’t take long to reach the top, where lots of photos of the group….
…were taken by our resident experts.
Descent was by the path to Trentabank, then through the woods which despite the low light levels sported some surprisingly bright green tree trunks.
This was an excellent way to spend a couple of hours on New Year’s Day, followed by lunch from the kiosk at Trentabank Visitor Centre, where we happened upon Alan and Kate, out for a stroll with Obi the horse (by which time my camera, sadly, had been stashed in the car).
Some more pictures, for the benefit of those present on the walk, are here.
And here’s our route – about 4.5km, with 170 metres ascent, suitable for children, and those with little time to spare.
Happy New Year, everyone.
This little passenger operated ferry across the Bridgewater Canal continued to function for most of December, during the whole month of which the canal has to some extent been frozen.
These pictures were taken on 19 December, but by Christmas the ferry had been abandoned in favour of simply strolling across the ice.
The thaw has now put paid to that method of crossing, but some ice still lingers on.
I’m catching up with a few entries whilst it’s damp and grey outside and I’m ensconced in a decorating assignment.
A walk along the Bridgewater Canal on a dull afternoon was enlivened by the glint of the late sun as it appeared briefly from behind the cloud to illuminate the snow that had lingered all day on the tree branches (just for you, Mark A!)
Meanwhile, Sue enjoyed lunch in Knutsford then a potter around Tatton Park with some good friends of ours, who may enjoy a few more (incorrectly copyrighted – never mind) photos – to be found here.
A lovely day.
After a gentle start, R + J joined us for a stroll around Dunham Massey. Sadly Dot was a bit poorly and confined to barracks. We set off as the sun tried to bore through the early mist, but it was still very cold in the park.
The canal was solid, even under the bridges, and a small area had been cleared of hoar frost to permit skating.
We had to return home, both to escape the cold and to prepare a meal for seven, plus Oscar, seen below trying to unpack his lunch.
The rest of the day vanished in a bit of a haze, but there’s a slide show of what may be one of our last frosty days before a thaw, here.
“Dad, if we are coming to yours for Christmas Dinner, we must have ‘The Sprouts’.”
“Or we may not come!”
My dear daughter can be quite forceful at times.
Christmas dinner in recent years has been graced (inter alia) by ‘The Sprouts’ side dish, which everyone loves. It’s a Sophie Grigson recipe for 8, but don’t bank on there being any left over even if you have fewer than that number for dinner.
It’s delicious. The quantities shown below are pretty flexible – you may like to halve some of them, but leave the topping the same, to give it a bit more substance.
The picture shows a portion for two.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Place the sprouts into a saucepan of simmering salted water and cook for 4-5 minutes, until almost, but not quite, cooked. Drain thoroughly, allow to cool slightly, then cut in half.
Place the butter and oil into a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon lardons and almonds and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.
Add the sprouts and sauté for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the cream and bring the mixture to the boil. Boil for 2-4 minutes, until the cream has reduced to a rich sauce. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and spoon into an ovenproof gratin dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese together in a bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the top of the sprout mixture.
Place into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the top is golden-brown and the cream visibly boiling.
Remove from the oven and serve in the gratin dish (when the dish has cooled slightly).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For a winter supper you can add mushrooms and/or left over veg at stage 4 to make a sort of Brussels sprouts pie, garnished with rocket leaves, or even a fried egg or two.
Yummy!
The mercury fell from 6C to 2C over a 30 minute period yesterday lunch time.
It froze hard last night.
Captain Beefheart sadly failed to make it through the day. It’s a long time since we saw him in Manchester, but he’s fondly remembered.
The ice is re-forming on the canal.
The previous ice hadn’t fully melted, despite a few relatively warm days, a couple of inches remaining under the surface water.
As usual, it was warmer under the bridges, and it’ll be a day or two before we can ignore the bridge when walking to the King’s Ransom!
“Quack” said Marjorie.
Sale Ferry had been in use, but will shortly be iced up again.
Perhaps.
It’s snowing now, so tomorrow’s views will be different.
Welcome back, JJ. You made it! Sue and I have a small assignment for you when you’ve unpacked!
The previous Sunday, the Manifold Valley had been engulfed in snow, with temperatures lower than –10C. During the week a slow thaw had freed up access, but early arrivals for this walk were still able to enjoy driving down the ‘toboggan run’ from Butterton and recover from the ordeal with coffee in the café.
Then our Health and Safety officer, Notchy, arrived to put a stop to such frivolity. Our car duly turned round and took the easy route through the long single track tunnel to the south of Warslow.
Luckily the large lay-by at Wettonmill was free enough of snow to permit parking. We duly filled it with cars, some 24 folk having turned up for this annual event, including a few who either hadn’t been on a walk with us before, or hadn’t appeared for rather a long time. It was great to see you all; thank you for coming.
It’s a fairly short walk from Wettonmill, down the Manifold Valley to the climb up to Thor’s Cave, where the assembled masses could explore the magnificent cavern and enjoy a choice of CCS or fudge brownies, or indeed both, with their elevenses.
Viewers of BBC’s Countryfile programme will have benefitted from the comprehensive analysis of this area by a sheep farmer in the previous week’s episode. It still seems amazing that this huge cavern, high above the valley, was formed by a river, millions of years ago.
The place has a rich history. Some 20,000 years ago bears and red deer would have sought refuge in the cave, but by the end of the 19th century it had become a tourist destination. It was served by a railway station on the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway some 80 metres below, between 1904 and 1934, and in 1988 a memorable film, The Lair of the White Worm, directed by Ken Russell, was shot on location here.
We trotted back down to the valley path, and emerged into bright sunshine near Weags Bridge.
After this, all bar two of the assembled mass met the challenge of the steep path through vibrant gorse bushes that short-cuts a hairpin on the road. Well done!
Below Wetton Low, a slithery path contours beautifully above the Manifold Valley, with fine views back up the valley, and also to the south east towards Ilam, former home of the Watts-Russell family.
After a while we turned into a biting breeze towards Hopedale, prior to which a freshly muck-spread field gooed up our boots. So instead of heading straight for the pub (we were surprisingly early anyway), a convoluted route was chosen that enabled us to reach the warmth of the Watts-Russell Arms a little before our planned 1pm target.
Phil (the 25th member of our party – feeling ill, but not poorly enough to miss out on a pub meal) had been in residence for some time. Our group basically took over the pub and enjoyed Chris and Bruce’s beer and food. It’s always a bit of a concern, taking 25 people to an untried venue, but I think everyone enjoyed their meal.
After nearly two hours in this pleasant spot, chatting about important matters like TGO Challenge routes (Mick and Gayle are reserves – their route is fully planned; I have decided to start with novice Mike from Oban and have a rough plan in mind; Graham hasn’t decided on a start point for his 21st crossing), and inserting comedic answers to a little quiz that I had set, as well as catching up with all those we hadn’t seen for some time, we set off again, in the direction of Ecton Hill.
It was a pleasant afternoon, though the light soon started to fade, and by the time we were approaching Top of Ecton a small splinter group, perhaps afraid of the dark, had formed. So these seven miscreants headed off back to Wettonmill via Sugarloaf, whilst the rest of us continued on as planned up to the 369 metre summit of Ecton Hill, reached by the time the light was beginning to fade at 4pm.
Everyone seemed very happy, and Sue found a patch of deepish snow in which to play. It’s a good viewpoint, but photos were difficult in the low light.
We knew that Impending darkness would not be a problem, as it’s an easy descent to rejoin the Manifold Valley at Ecton, then a leisurely stroll back to Wettonmill via the course of the old railway as far as the tunnel by The Lee, before a final half hour or so on the good path above the east bank of the river.
Despite the dim light, no torches were needed and we all arrived safely at Wettonmill at 5pm after our five hour stroll plus two hours in the pub – 18km (11 miles) with 780 metres of ascent, as shown below.
Only a few pictures were taken on the day, so I’ve added the set from our recce walk two months earlier to this slide show. It’s amazing how quickly summer changes into winter, though the conditions for our walk were much less wintry than they would have been a week earlier…
I wasn’t the only blogger in attendance. Gayle has posted her usual eloquent résumé, which quite neatly complements this version, here. We are glad that you enjoyed your day out, Gayle.
An early start saw Sue and I negotiate icy roads to reach Center Parcs by 9.30 for our annual visit organised by Robert and Lyn, who were joined for the whole weekend by Roger, Stuart, Louise, Jim, Peggy and Chris. Our other Center Parc postings can be viewed here.
Badminton, Table Tennis, Wildlife Photography, Squash, Watercolour Art, swimming under the big dome, and Pool in our private games room, preceded an in-house sauna (for some) followed by a steamy roll in the snow.
At some point, we enjoyed a fireworks display, recorded very amateurishly on my cheap digital camera:
After an excellent meal prepared by Chris, our ‘Walking in South Africa’ slide show concluded the evening. (Well, the traditional long walk back to our car with all the slide show gear actually concluded it – very cold!)
An excellent day out, after which a short drive to snowy Mansfield took us to a spacious Travelodge room hired for the princely sum of £10.
This meant that instead of a late night drive home in the dark, we could enjoy a tasty croissant before a scenic drive home through the Peak District in temperatures down to minus 13C in mid-morning. The hoar frost was thick and pretty – it was a truly beautiful journey.
Those who attended the Center Parcs trip may gain some amusement from viewing this photo album….?
I don’t know what happened to the Table Tennis photos; it’s a mystery.
It’s not that I’ve run out of steam. It’s just that sometimes there are lots of tasks that need to be done in priority to blogging.
I’m temporarily stuck, like the barge in the snowstorm on 1 December 2010, pictured above.
So once I’ve recovered from the chastising I’m receiving (from myself) for not getting out for a walk on this beautiful sunny day, I’ll get back into gear and report on a lovely day at Center Parcs, some books that I’ve been reading, perhaps the odd bit of gear, and even a TGO Challenge route or two (this year’s pictures still needing to be ‘processed’).
I do try to keep up with quite a few other blogs, through Google Reader, and these had built up to over 300 unread entries in no time at all, partly thanks to the extremely prolific Jeremy Burrows. I skimmed through these this morning and was sorry to hear of the demise of Darren and John’s dogs. Commiserations both…
I also noticed that James is about to receive some gear for review from Webtogs, which organisation has received a good review itself from Louise. I’m still waiting for the call, Gareth!
There was lots of other good stuff on ‘Reader’, causing my morning read to stray into the afternoon. This wasn’t aided by meeting Carol during a brief excursion to the shops. I hadn’t seen Carol for many years. She was the leader of a small team who had the thankless task of converting my and others’ scribblings into meaningful typed documents before the days of word processors. Not that long ago, really. Great to see you, Carol. I’ve found some photos. They are rather old. I’ll spare us all the embarrassment!
JJ, that esteemed resident of Timperley, has bunked off to Florida, but not before circulating this delightful little video:
JJ tells me he is working on his own version of this, “in Manchester Craft Market, the Saturday before Christmas”. That could be fun!
Meanwhile, Old Mortality was also circulating stuff, so by way of contrast, here is one of his delicately illustrated offerings:
I’m told that somebody appears to have plucked some of the spiders’ legs! You may wish to check that out….
Our friendly neighbours, Barney and Carmen, have moved house.
They took it with them!
Good luck in your new home, Barney, Carmen, C and A. We’ll be round with the shortbread soon.
This entry is by way of a reprise of the past few days’ activities.
A slideshow is here.
Click on each Day heading for the posting for that day.
320 miles from Timperley to Braemar in 7 hours, via Tebay (pictured below) and Stirling. A very easy journey in lovely sunny weather, despite warnings of snow.
The A93 road over the Devil’s Elbow to Glenshee had a bit of snow on it, and Braemar had a fair amount – the edge of the bad weather must be around here (for the time being).
I enjoyed an evening at the Fife Arms with 20-30 XXLers and also with TGO Challengers Doug Bruce and Richard Baker.
Given that driving anywhere from Braemar was inadvisable (if not impossible) after further snow, various easy walks from Braemar were planned. Given the distance I’d travelled I chose the longest outing available, a trip up the Corbett, Creag nan Gabhar (834 metres) which I last went up on 4 January 2005.
Eight of us walked past the golf course, to a photo call on the A93 at Auchallater.
Through deepening snow, we rose above Glen Callater before pausing for elevenses.
Paul (as planned) and later Gus (stressed by calls from someone called Jane) peeled off and left the rest of us to slog our way through a sunny snowstorm to the summit of Creag nan Gabhar.
Snow shoes, left in our spare bedroom in Timperley, would have been of benefit at this point, though to be fair the going could have been more difficult.
Several false summits led eventually, four hours from Braemar, to the summit cairn. A further cairn looked higher. But it wasn’t.
We dallied there for luncheon. At minus 7C, plus a little wind-chill, it was the coldest point of the day.
Mark’s hands got cold. He lost all feeling in them!
We decided to return the same way, and just about managed to follow the upward footprints back to Glen Callater. The snow storm had eased, and the sun was glimpsed.
There was a lovely sunset.
Laden with fresh snow, the trees in Glen Callater looked beautiful in the fading light.
We followed some cross country skiers across the golf course and arrived back at the Fife around 4.30pm. We had been out for just 6.5 hours on this 18km walk with 650 metres ascent.
Here’s the route.
The annual dinner was great fun. The Mistress of Ceremonies (below) was in excellent form, as were several other speakers, who were followed by a slideshow from the ‘House of Scoular Production Team’, and a raffle in which, bizarrely, the first three tickets drawn were consecutive numbers!
A planned trip to Poolewe having been abandoned, I was to return home today. But it had snowed again and there was no chance of the A93 to Blairgowrie being opened due to the snow ploughs efforts being concentrated into keeping the route to Aberdeen open.
Having escaped from Braemar – thanks go to various people who helped with shoveling, it was much appreciated – the drive to Aberdeen in a snowstorm was slow but enjoyable. Except when baulked by very slow vehicles – with worn front tyres, my vehicle needed momentum!
The roads around Aberdeen were fine, but to the south the A90 became gradually more difficult. Clearly lorries were faltering on the hard packed ice that lay below the top surface that had been slushified by the gritting lorries.
Later, the approach to Dundee (pictured below) became even slower, and the short journey from Dundee to Perth, littered with HGVs that had simply slid off the road, took from 4pm to 10pm. So no chance of getting home, as I later discovered that all routes south of Perth had been shut since before 2pm.
After a warm and cosy night in the car outside Morrisons car park in Perth, during which I was entertained from Brisbane by the English cricketers scoring 517 for 1 wicket, I headed back to a queue on the A93 to join the A9. After three and a half hours our patience bore fruit. The A9 reopened for a while, allowing vehicles to make their way slowly south towards Stirling.
We were still travelling slowly enough to take the following photos through the car windows, but after Stirling things speeded up and south of Glasgow there was only a sprinkling of snow.
The whole day’s journey was very scenic, and actually rather enjoyable.
South of Lancaster, there was no snow at all, and the 420 mile journey was finally completed after more than 30 comfortable hours in the car. But as I write, there is now snow virtually everywhere in the UK, including Timperley.
I’ve been listening to complaints from people caught up in jams even worse than the ones that I encountered. I have sympathy with their predicament, but not with their complaints. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that roads clogged by skidding lorries on thick ice are going to be blocked for some time in this weather. Comparison with situations in other countries that often encounter such conditions is also ‘false’, as drivers in such places almost certainly use winter tyres, which make a vast difference, as those members of the XXL Club who have them will no doubt confirm. It’s not rocket science to suggest that packing provisions and clothing, etc (including a shovel), sufficient to spend at least one night in a vehicle, should be a prerequisite of virtually any journey in these conditions.
If you missed it above, a slideshow is here. I enjoyed this trip, despite the disproportionate amount of time spent in the car. The unpredictability of such a mini adventure is always rather exciting…
